The mission of this blog is to share common experiences among mothers in the quest for fitness and raising healthy families.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Satisfy your cravings the healthy way at the Vegan Sweet Tooth

Earlier this week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Rebecca Bryan and Tiffany O'Neill the founders and owners of the Vegan Sweet Tooth. The Vegan Sweet Tooth is a speciality sweet shop that makes vegan, diabetic and gluten free desserts located in Eton Place in Woodmere, Ohio. The atmosphere there is very warm and inviting. The decor of their store if very chic and modern.

The ladies explained to me how their business got started. The duo are Chagrin Falls residents. They have been friends since the first grade and are long time food industry veterans. Bryan studied pastry arts at Johnston and Whales. O'Neill studied commercial photography at Ohio University with a specialization in food photography. "Rebecca started making cupcakes and desserts for a wine bar in Chagrin Falls and they couldn't keep the cupcakes in stock," O'Neill explained. Due to the popularity of her delicious desserts Bryan and O'Neill decided to rent out kitchen space to make desserts and things took off from there. O'Neill said, "We found there was a high demand for vegan, lactose and gluten free sweets."

High demand is a strong understatement. Almost all of my friends have children that have a formal food allergy or intolerance to some food. O'Neill and Bryan frequently talk to a number of parents that are dealing with this as well. "My boyfriend worked with a lady who had a baby that was lactose intolerant. The baby was never able to have a birthday cake," O'Neill said. "We are constantly getting pictures from parents of their child who has a food allergy having their first cake. That is why we do this." They can make custom cakes/cupcakes with any combination of cake/fillings etc. They will put any flavor combination together that customers are looking for. If you are interested in having a special order made please be sure to call ahead.

The top selling cupcake among mothers is the Chocolate Kahlua while the top seller for kids/babies is the Chocolate Oreo. I bought a dozen of the mini cupcakes in the following flavors: Vanilla Mixed Berry, Vanilla Lavender, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate. My favorite cupcake was the Vanilla Mixed Berry. The cake was delicious and moist. The berry flavoring was very refreshing. It reminded me of summer time as a child going out and picking berries.

My husband was a fan of the Vanilla Mixed Berry as well. He said," You can't tell this is vegan. It tastes great!" My sons loved the Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes. They looked like little works of art with the chocolate and peanut butter drizzle on top. They especially loved the icing. Our oldest said the cupcake was, "yummy" and asked, "when are you getting more of these?"

Not sure if Vegan sweets are for you? Stop in to Vegan Sweet Tooth and try a sample. O'Neill explained a common misconception about food tagged vegan. "We find people don't know what it means," she said "We try to talk to people and let them know about our food." She added, "We have a strong product no matter what you call it." They also have signs to educate their customers about different terminology associated with their food. All of their products have no trans fats, no hydrogenated oils, no high-fructose corn syrup.

In addition to the response from local families they have also had a great response from the yogic and diabetic communities. O'Neill said, "We offer cupcakes, brownies, oil free and whole wheat muffins." Vegan Sweet Tooth is also working to become Parve soon. "We are hoping to have this completed by mid July," O'Neill said. In addition to that, they are also working to become Kosher and have been working with the Cleveland Kosher Society.

They also only buy organic, local produce for their desserts. In addition to desserts they also have a breakfast menu. They make their own fresh juices. "We work with Sanson Produce Company to get organic produce. They work with the West Side Market," said O'Neill.

The duo has been touched by the positive response they have gotten since they opened their business. "We have had phenomenal community support," O'Neill said. " The community has come out in droves and we are so thankful."

Check out their website or go to Eton and tell them Diaper Derby Mama sent you.